Hughes-Koscheck Agreed Upon for UFC 135 in Denver

Josh Koscheck will be back in action sooner than expected. | Photo: Dave Mandel

Hughes was initially slated to square off with Diego Sanchez at the Sept. 24 event, but a broken hand forced Sanchez out of the bout, leaving Hughes without an opponent. Koscheck tweeted Monday that he had been offered the fight, pending Hughes’ approval.

Headlined by a light heavyweight title tilt between Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson, UFC 135 will emanate from the Pepsi Center in Denver. The event will also feature a lightweight contest pitting Nate Diaz against Takanori Gomi, as well as a heavyweight scrap between Travis Browne and Rob Broughton.

A UFC hall of famer, Hughes recently had a three-fight winning streak snapped when he was knocked out by old rival B.J. Penn at UFC 123 in November. Prior to that 21-second defeat, Hughes had rattled off wins over Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida. The 37-year-old owns 20 of his 45 career wins by submission, and has only been bested by Georges St. Pierre, Thiago Alves and Penn since 2001.

Like Hughes, Koscheck was a superior collegiate wrestler, earning NCAA Division I All-American honors four times. Also like Hughes, the American Kickboxing Academy standout had a three-fight winning streak halted when he was outpointed by St. Pierre in the main event of UFC 124 in December. St. Pierre dominated the five-round affair in Montreal, busting the American's orbital bone with a continuous left jabs en route to a one-sided unanimous decision victory.

Koscheck stated last month that he planned to return Nov. 19 at UFC 139, possibly at 185 pounds.